Kaiku partners with MAVAL to lay the foundations for an optimised production
The two companies launch a project that will deploy, in different phases, technology for Production Management at the Pamplona plant. The first step: implementing an OEE solution.
Kaiku Corporación Alimentaria is one of Spain’s leading manufacturers and marketers of dairy products. The company’s origins are linked to the development of the dairy sector in the Basque Country and Navarre, where it collects 70% of the total milk produced and is a sales leader. Today it specialises in high-quality products with strong added value.
Kaiku pioneered the development of key categories such as cholesterol reducers, lactose-free dairy, and ready-to-drink coffees—areas in which it remains a benchmark company. More recently, it has developed an innovative category of plant-based yoghurts made 100% from almonds.
The company is currently immersed in a digital transformation process. This project focuses on the Pamplona plant, where Kaiku manufactures some of its most prominent products—such as yoghurt and probiotics—and aims to promote data exploitation across different production lines to increase its ability to optimise production.
OEE data collection and analysis system to measure efficiency
One of the foundations for improving productivity in a factory is optimising production equipment. That is why the first step of this project, which started a few weeks ago, involves integrating the machines and enabling the capture of all performance data from those machines in real time.
All this data will feed a KPI calculation engine where Kaiku will be able to record and analyse the operational efficiency of its equipment. OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) is, for many industries, one of the most important key performance indicators.
With real-time OEE, Kaiku will gain better visibility into productivity. It will be able to optimise manufacturing processes and know at any moment how its machines and lines are performing—while also identifying where losses occur in order to eliminate or mitigate them immediately.
Production management as the final objective
In the long term, this OEE becomes a highly valuable instrument to assess the impact of improvement actions, guide strategy and move forward. In the next phase, the plan is to complement Kaiku’s OEE with new indicators and greater production control through the implementation of a line monitoring system.
Ultimately, the project’s final objective is end-to-end Production Management through a MES (Manufacturing Execution System), which will give Kaiku near-limitless opportunities to optimise production and make it more sustainable.
In line with both companies’ philosophy, Kaiku and Maval are moving towards an Industry 4.0 model. The project is led by highly qualified teams with great enthusiasm for advancing the path towards smart manufacturing.